Curriculum and Instruction News

The Wisconsin Collaborative Education Research Network (The Network) is hosting a special Grand Challenges meet-up event on Thursday, Oct. 26, titled “Welcoming Immigrant Families and Learners.”

The event runs from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Virginia Harrison Parlor in Lathrop Hall on the UW-Madison campus, and is being co-hosted with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction. By gathering people who work on similar topics from different viewpoints, Grand Challenges meet-ups provide an opportunity for new connections, innovative collaborations, and new ideas that are responsive to the shared challenges.

The meet-up will also offer those in attendance the unique opportunity to connect with a visiting delegation from Hessen, Wisconsin's sister-state in Germany, led by Alexander Lorz, the Hessen Minister of Education. Attendees will engage in conversation with the Hessen delegation and a panel of UW-Madison experts on how to welcome immigrants into our communities and classrooms both here and abroad. Among those from UW-Madison taking part are: Weijia Li, a faculty member with the departments of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, and German; Gail Prasad, a faculty member with the Department of Curriculum and Instruction; and Mariana Castro, the director of standards with WIDA.

The Oct. 26 event will also serve as the launch of the Transform phase of the Grand Challenges initiative.

The Network is coordinating the School of Education's Grand Challenges initiative, which is designed to inspire and facilitate interactions among School of Education faculty, staff and community partners. The goal is to build interdisciplinary teams to identify and design innovative solutions for critical social and scholarly problems across Wisconsin and around the world.

In September, eight Grand Challenges Engage projects were awarded a combined total of $200,000 to carry out the Wisconsin Idea over the next two years. Grand Challenges is now accepting proposals for Transform Grants of up to $250,000. Transform will support two to three teams to develop solutions for big problems, establish new programs for community impact, and explore revolutionary ideas through collaborative interdisciplinary projects. Transform proposals are due Jan. 5.

Join the Network team for the Oct. 26 event over drinks and hors d'oeuvres. RSVP here.